Les AMIS Concert Features Concentration Camp composition
By Marianne Marusic
Les AMIS Concerts will be welcoming back virtuoso violinist Lynn Kuo to lead an illustrious group of musicians for a May 28 concert at Cobourg's Victoria Hall Concert Hall.
The program will include a clarinet solo and a quartet of esteemed Canadian musicians, organized by Les AMIS founder and Artistic Director Michael Pepa, with Kuo at the helm of the upcoming event.
With the series in its 40th year, Pepa’s primary goal is to nurture talented young musicians at the earliest stages of their professional careers.
“That goal has brought about many long-standing relationships with musicians that have gone on to develop successful and high-profile careers as performers and educators,” Pepa commented.
Lynn Kuo is one of many artists whom Pepa has mentored over the years. Pepa met Kuo in 2002 when she was graduating from a music program at the University of Toronto, and said he was “charmed by her and the first note she produced.” Since that time, Kuo has been part of the Les AMIS family and has brought with her a number of colleagues.
Kuo has performed frequently in Cobourg with various ensembles under the Les AMIS banner, taking time from her busy career as Assistant Concertmaster of the National Ballet of Canada Orchestra. In addition to that role, she performs with the Toronto Symphony and Canadian Opera Company.
Joining Kuo are Edmonton Symphony Principal Cellist Rafael Hoekman, Juno-winning pianist Angela Park and clarinetist Emily Marlow. They will perform Quartet for the End of Time, a piece written by French composer Olivier Messiaen when he was in captivity during World War II.
Imprisoned in a Verdun concentration camp, with manuscript paper and pencils acquired from a German guard, Messiaen composed the piece to play with a group of imprisoned musicians. The work was first performed in January 1941 to an audience of prisoners and prison guards.
“The piece has a unique instrumentation and history,” Kuo remarked.
“This work is incredibly impactful and transcendental, being inspired by text from the Book of Revelations; it channels powerful and intense imagery of birds, the night, the abyss, angels, eternity, and the Apocalypse.”
In addition to the quartet, clarinetist Emily Marlow will perform a set of short pieces composed by music professor and former Minister of Culture of Moldova, Ghenadie Ciobanu. Born in Nova Scotia, Marlow earned her Master’s degree in Music Performance in Chicago and has played with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Currently, Marlow is a member of the National Ballet of Canada Orchestra, as well as an active chamber musician.
“We first played Quartet for the End of Time in 2005 and have not been together since then,” Kuo noted,
“We’ve been planning this reunion concert since before the pandemic, so I hope that the Cobourg audience will join us in experiencing this powerful work again!”
The performance is scheduled for Sunday, May 28, at 3 p,m. Tickets are available at the Victoria Hall Concert Hall box office by phone at 1-855-372-2210, or direct from producer (no fees) by e-mail at kenprue@gmail.com
